Straw-cutter



0. H. WHITTEMOREM' Straw Cutt er.

Patented Aug. 9. 1864.

n guns. iw swn wmngnh a c.

UN TED STATES PATENT "OFFICE.

D. H. WHITTEMORE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

STRAW-CUTTER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,811, dated August 9,1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, D. H. WHITTEMORE, of Worcester, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Lever Straw-Cutters; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description of the same, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification.

The drawings represent the front or working part of the machine, whichis composed of iron-the usual material for such purposesthe wood part orframe not being necessary to explain my improvement.

Figure 1 is a front view. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the back endof the lever, with the parts in which it turns, showing the manner ofadjusting the knife to the bed-plate, &c. Fig. 3 is an edge back view ofthe faceplate with the lever and adjustable parts removed,showing thestep upon which the adj ustable parts rest. Fig. 4 is a top view of thestep, showing a portion of the face-plate, of which it is a part.

In Fig. l, a is the face-plate, through which the feed passes, and pastwhich the knife moves to cut it off. This face-plate is screwed orbolted to the wood frame or hopper. b is the lever, and c is the knife,fastened to it in the usual way. The dotted 6 shows the position of theshaft upon the lever which is pointed at the ends, and upon which pointsthe lever turns. 01 and c are each adjustable ears in which the leverturns by means of the shaft upon the same. Said ears are held to thestep h upon the face-plate a by means of the bolt f f.

In Fig. 2 the shaft 1' upon the lever b is more fully seen with itspointed ends. I

In Fig. 2 the step or platform h is seen with the ears 0 d upon it andwith the bolt removed, showing the slot 9, through which the boltpasses. The part c c has a horizontal part, the bottom of whichcorresponds in size and shape to the top of the step h, upon which itrests. It is slotted in the center, like the part at (1 above, and hasan ear running up in which a countersink is made corresponding insizeand shape to the point of the radial arm which is inserted in it, and inwhich it turns. This serves as one end of the hinge for the lever.Another piece, d, is placed upon this, which is about as much shorter(horizontally) than the one below as the thickness of the ear upon thepart c. The ear upon the part d, which serves to make the other part ofthe hinge for the lever, is similar to the one on the opposite end,except it is as much shorter as the thickness of the horizontal part of0 below. These ears are of the same relative height when placed inposition. The part dis concave upon the bottom, as seen at c, and thepart c is convex upon the top, so that when placed and held firmlytogether by the bolt f they will turn upon each other, and the part c isbeveled or inclined toward the mouth of the hopper at the front end ofsaid piece, and beveled the other way upon the other end, (upon thebottom,) while the top of the step h h, upon which it rests, iscorresponding in shape, as repre sented by the dotted line on h h inFig. 2, and by the inclined plane of h in Fig. 1; also by the dottedline h and shaded line h in Fig. 3, and by the shaded lines h h in Fig.4. By thus beveling those parts together, when the lever and knife arein position for cutting, the knife in the lever is naturally inclinedtoward the face-plate, past which it moves to cut the feed, and it willnot easily work away from it to allow the feed to run through withoutbeing out. It thus allows the use of only one bolt to make all theadjustments, when without this bevel principle it would require twobolts, and, besides, a set-screw is usually found necessary to keep theknife in the right position for cutting.

By this improvement the parts at and c are adjusted together until thelever is held firm between them, and both are moved upon the step It andadjusted properly to the face-plate for cutting. All these adjustmentsare accomplished thoroughly, and the parts held necessary. and verylittle iron-work. is recombined with the corresponding shape of cquired. and used as and for thepurpose set forth.

What I claim as my improvement, and de- In Witness whereof I havehereunto subsire to secure by Letters Patent, isscribed my name the 19thday of February,

1. The lever b, ears 0 d, and convex surface 1864. r c, with thecorresponding concave of 01, when D. H. WHITTEMORE.

combined and arranged as and for the pur- In presence ofpose specified.A. S. N IGHOLSON,

2. The inclined plane of the step h, when I JOHN H. SARBER.

